That Ship Has Sailed
by Dracossack
Summary: Carmilla was fairly satisfied with the direction things had gone since Danny's confrontation and Laura's subsequent ire. At least, she was until Laura's anger turned back to her. Sort of Danny x Laura, immediately following episode 24 of Carmilla.


**That Ship Has Sailed**

"You suck."

Carmilla smirked at the insult, finding it incredibly amusing that Laura had gone with such an obviously exploitable comment, but none too surprising, to be sure. This was Laura, after all.

"Sometimes I wonder if you realize who you're actually talking to," Carmilla responded.

"No, I mean it. You suck," Laura replied firmly, causing Carmilla's eyebrows to rise, slightly taken aback at the bluntness of the short brunette's words. Sure, she had yelled at Carmilla plenty of times before, in fact, Laura was becoming quite creative in her methods of expressing her displeasure with her vampire roommate's latest shenanigans. But never had she sounded so utterly hurt as the lashed out at Carmilla. "I really, really liked her."

"As I recall, considering it wasn't thirty seconds ago, I believe it was you that was yelling at Danny and telling her to back off, not me."

"I shouldn't have had to."

"And that's my fault how?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because you had your fingers wrapped around her throat!" Laura yelled, jumping from her bed to her feet. "She was terrified! You threatened to rip out her spine! She was already freaked out enough with all of this as it was, and rightfully so, may I add. But, despite all of that, she was still only concerned for my safety. She threw herself at you, who could have easily made a meal of her, to protect me." Tears stung at Laura's eyes as she stood over Carmilla, whose posture had stiffened slightly under the brunette's scolding. Laura took in a deep breath before letting out a heavy sigh. "Yes, I admit, I meant everything I said to her. I don't want nor do I need someone to hold my hand through everything, someone who is paranoid that anything I do alone will result in some misfortune for me, and she needs to understand that. But it killed me to have to say it so harshly, especially to someone as kind and sweet as her."

"Laura, I-"

"Don't," Laura replied swiftly, shrugging off the hand Carmilla attempted to place on her arm. "I get that we pissed you off. You have every right to be mad at us. But you're no saint here either." Laura turned on her heels and headed towards the door of their shared dorm room. Carmilla sat in stunned silence, for once in her long life completely at a loss for words. This wasn't how she intended things to go. "And Carmilla..." The dark haired girl's eyes met Laura's as she turned back to face her. "Don't ever steal my pillow again."

With that, Laura exited the room, slamming the door emphatically behind her.

Carmilla blinked twice.

"You really screwed up this one, didn't you, Karnstein?" She murmured into the silence of the room.

* * *

><p>Danny looked up at the door to her room when she heard a light knocking emanating from the dark wood. She did her best to wipe the tears from her eyes, once again ever thankful she had been able to get her own room, one of the perks of being a teaching assistant. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to see her in this state. The tall redhead moved slowly and reluctantly to the entrance, not particularly in the mood to speak with anyone, but willing to do so nonetheless should whoever it may be actually need her help, another fairly common occurrence as a TA.<p>

As she swung open the door, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw who was waiting on the other side. Her heart soared for a brief moment before sinking, figuring by the look on the much shorter girl's face that another verbal thrashing was in store from the object of her affection.

"Laura...?"

"May I come in?" Laura asked tersely. Danny nodded and stepped aside to allow Laura passage into her room before gently shutting the door. The brunette examined Danny's face closely, and her own expression softened when she saw the puffy cheeks and red eyes indicative of the TA's recent emotional state. "I'm sorry." Danny's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I meant what I said. I just..." Laura looked away from the redhead, regret filling her at the hurt that Danny was trying so hard and failing to mask.

"Just what?" Danny asked, attempting to keep her voice even. She had to admit she was at least a little bitter about what Laura had said earlier, even if she was right. Laura released a remorseful sigh as she looked back to the taller girl.

"I just wish I hadn't been so final about it. I was angry and scared and our undead audience definitely wasn't helping the matter. Look, Danny, I truly do appreciate that you're so willing to protect me, but you have to let me make my own decisions, okay?"

Danny nodded, feeling more than a little relieved at the direction the conversation had taken. A soft smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she looked at the tiny girl before her.

"I know. Honestly, in your position, I'd probably have said the same thing," Danny admitted. Laura smiled.

"Well, as long as you understand that, there's no reason we can't still be friends," Laura said brightly, her mood having lightened considerably in the redhead's presence, as it often did.

"Well, you said you meant everything that you told me back in your room. And you did say you really like me. I don't suppose there's any chance we could try for more than friends?" Danny asked hopefully. A small blush crept over Laura's face as she looked up at Danny.

"I wouldn't be opposed to that," Laura said with a shy grin.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Needless to say, episode 24 killed me. In retrospect, I should have seen it coming, but alas, I still like Danny way more the Carmilla. Not to say I dislike Carmilla, because I don't, I just like Danny more. She's my favorite character. Well, my next favorite after Kirsch, but that's a different story XD. This is just a random thought that came to me while I was trying to go to bed, I guess I'm just desperately trying to hold onto any shred of hope for Danny x Laura, as improbable as it always was. It's probably unrealistic and overly optimistic, but I didn't spend too much time on this, considering it'll be rendered moot by Thursday. I hope anyone that actually reads it before then enjoys it at least a little. :) _


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